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In an unusual move, the American Institute in Taiwan, the de factor US embassy in the country, has highlighted two recent defense meetings with top Taiwanese officials in separate Facebook posts. To find out more about these meetings and what they mean, TaiwanPlus spoke with former Pentagon official Tony Hu.

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00:00In a rare move, the American Institute in Taiwan has posted twice on Facebook about

00:06recent defense meetings with senior Taiwanese officials.

00:09The AIT is the U.S.'s de facto embassy here in Taiwan.

00:13One post revealed that AIT Director Raymond Green met with Taiwan's Defense Minister

00:17Wellington Ku last Wednesday.

00:19The other highlighted Green's Monday meeting with opposition Kuomintang lawmakers.

00:24It's rare for the AIT to publicize interactions with senior national security officials.

00:29The meetings come after Taiwan's cabinet proposed a defense budget of more than 3 percent

00:33of GDP for next year, and that still needs legislative approval.

00:39To find out more about these meetings and what they mean, our reporter Alan Liu spoke with

00:43former Pentagon official Tony Hu.

00:46The AIT rarely goes public about meetings with Taiwanese officials on defense.

00:52Why do you think they did with this one?

00:54AIT is trying to highlight to both the ruling party and the opposition party that Taiwan's

00:59security is of concern to the United States.

01:02So, because there are those in Taiwan who believe the United States just want Taiwan to get into

01:09a conflict with China to weaken China and or just spend money to buy U.S. weapons, obviously

01:16that's very far from the truth.

01:19It is not what Taiwan and the United States want.

01:21So, to deter the war is a common objective for both Taiwan and the United States.

01:28So, that deterrence includes U.S.-Taiwan Defense Corporation to build up Taiwan's self-defense capability.

01:35And this is something I think AIT is trying to pass to both the ruling party and the opposition party.

01:43The AIT also revealed it held a meeting with five KMT lawmakers.

01:48Does this mean the U.S. is looking to strengthen communication and cooperation with the opposition?

01:54Why now?

01:55AIT is trying to make sure the people of Taiwan understand that United States has one common objective

02:04as far as defense cooperation, no matter whose is the ruling party, okay?

02:10So, it doesn't change when KMT is in power or DPP is in power.

02:16It doesn't change.

02:17It's the same objective.

02:18So, it's important for the opposition party right now, which is KMT, to also understand

02:25and stay informed of U.S. defense cooperation activities with Taiwan.

02:29And obviously, I suspect the defense budget was one of the discussion topics.

02:35And because many policymakers in the United States got a little bit worried in 2025 with

02:43KMT's drastic cut on the budget and the frozen portion of the budget.

02:50The new budget would raise defense spending to 3% of GDP.

02:55Is Washington likely to see that as enough?

02:57And from the U.S. perspective, which parts of Taiwan's defense spending matter most?

03:02It's hard to say what is enough for the Trump administration because the target keeps moving.

03:11But the key is whether it's enough to deter.

03:18So, instead of looking at which part of Taiwan's defense budget matters most, I suspect the United

03:23States will be looking at what gives Taiwan the biggest self-defense capability for the money.

03:30Basically, that's what we, when we say, get the biggest bang for the buck.

03:36I think this is what the U.S. side might be looking at.

03:42That was Tony Hu, a former official at the Pentagon.

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